Shell busts out ‘old school’ pit drill

You keep hearing about how Raiders coach Art Shell is so old school. Here’s what that means.

Take a defensive lineman, say, NFL sacks champion Derrick Burgess. Put him all alone in a quarantined area near midfield, though a dark alley or gladiator dome would work as well. Stack him opposite tight end Courtney Anderson, blow a whistle, watch them mash, then listen to blood-thirsty teammates cheer Anderson, the last man standing, while Burgess swears that was a penalty as he gets up from the floor.

Derrick Burgess was not the last man standing in Thursday’s pit drill.

“He tackled me,” Burgess said in his best no-fair voice.

It’s called the pit drill, and it’s been around since Shell was little, which has been some time now.

Shell busted out the macho-man litmus test Thursday because it’s the third day of training camp and, duh, that’s when you’re supposed to order up the pit drill.

“John Madden did it on the third day,” Shell said. “Tom Flores did it on the third day. I always did it on the third day. So, it’s ingrained in me.”

Players had no idea it was on the schedule, and they won’t have to worry about another day of head-on collisions. The pit drill is done once a year. You know, to keep it special.

“I definitely had a bit of a headache afterward,” defensive end Tyler Brayton said.